Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis has set a stunning new world record just weeks after he went viral at the Olympic Games.
The pole vault might not be the most popular track and field event, but Swedish athlete Duplantis has done everything he can and more to push the sport into the spotlight.
The 24-year-old made headlines earlier this month when, despite already securing gold in the men's pole vault at the Paris Olympic Games, he continued competing in a bid to set a new record.
Advert
After two failed attempts, Duplantis pulled off a 6.25 metre vault to beat the previous world record - which he set earlier in the year - by one centimetre.
Now, less than three weeks later, Duplantis has beaten his own world record yet again while competing at the Diamond League in Silesia, Poland.
On Sunday he cleared the bar at 6.26m, setting a new world record for a remarkable tenth time in his short career.
Advert
Once again the two-time Olympic champion bettered his record by one centimetre, a margin that is intentional rather than incidental.
Duplantis could potentially attempt an even greater world record height but athletes receive a $100,000 bonus each time they break the world record, meaning it would be in his own interests to steadily increase the height.
Advert
As reported by Forbes, the caveat is that athlete can only receive one bonus at the meet they set the record at.
In short, if Duplantis broke the record twice at the meet, he would still only receive $100,000 instead of $200,000.
"An athlete such as Duplantis who recognises this understands that they can maximise their financial return by waiting to break the world record again," the report adds.
Speaking after his record-breaking performance at the Olympics earlier this month, Duplantis said: "What a night. Really there are no words that can explain it. I have no idea what’s going on, I feel like nothing’s even real.
Advert
"I can’t even feel my feet, I can’t even feel my body. I’m just on cloud nine. So much goes into this and then you just do it.”
Alex Brotherton